Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. Sing unto the Lord a new song - That is, as we have often had occasion to remark, an excellent song, the best we can possibly pronounce. So the word חדש chadash is often understood; and so the word novus, "new," was often used among the Latin writers: -
Pollio amat nostram, quamvis sit rustica, musam.
Pollio et ipse facit.
Nova Carmina Virg. Ecclesiastes 3. ver. 84.
Pollio loves my lines, although rude:
Pollio himself makes excellent odes.
Tamely and inexpressively translated by Dryden: -
"Pollio my rural verse vouchsafes to read.
My Pollio writes himself."
O what a falling off is here!
Servius, in his comment on nova, says, magna, Miranda. Nova means great, admirable.
So on novum nectar, Ecl. v., ver. 71, he says, id est, magna dulcedo; "nectar of Excellent flavor."
Congregation of saints - The Israelites, who were, by profession and by injunction, a holy people.